The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1887-01-19
THE MEASURE OF INFAMY.
An Atheists Opinion of the Ed
munds- Tucker Bill. ies ~
To the Editor OF THE HERALD.

- ttSu aLs H
To the Editor OF THE HERALD. ,s..
You will pardon me for asking so
much space IN your valuable paper, but
the circumstances of this question re-
quire some explanation, and then | can
only. give g synopsis of the subject
matter in reviewing the Edmunds-
Tucker bill. l must admit l never read
a more inconsistent thing in my life.
The bill says that each and every man
who goes to register as a voter must
make certain statements as to his belief,
and if this belief Is not according to the
of the bill, he cannot be
voter: that is, if he believes that any
thing is superior to the secular govern
ment of this republic, he cannot vote
or be eligible to hold any Office of trust
in the gift of the people, or. more cor
rectly speaking, he cannot be appointed
to any position in this Territory. Now,
to the above, [ have no objections, but
L want square deal. and for this rea-
son; think the bill could be amended,
so as TO give it a more universal effect
and be equally just, or else we must
cease &c say there is any Justice to be
got in e.;ber house of Congress of this
SO called republic. 1 would suggest
that cy.ry nan called upon to make
his affirmation of allegiance to this
country or register his vote shall be
called upon to renounce his allegiance
TO every thing he may believe to be
systematically or temporarily above
this government. For instance, to IL
lustrate, think that every marfought
to be tested in this way. The affirma-
ton or oath of citizenship at present
calls for every foreigner to renounce
his allegiance to every foreign power
prince, potentate, and especially to the
Queen of Great Britain and Ireland: |
would add: Americans and foreign
ers shall be made to renounce their allie.
glance to the Pope OF Rome, as the
greatest despot IN the world, and the
most dangerous to our republic, with
his vast horde of followers" And
right here / wish to make the
statement that Roman Catholicism
is the worst enemy that this
republic has, and am prepared to
prove this from statistics in public dis
cussion. Now, sir, here Is test: Ask
a Catholic priest to forswear his alleg-'
lance to his Pope in favor of this gov
eminent, and he will positively refuse.
He dare not do it, and he must not for
the sake of his temporal existence.
Everything in this republic is consid-
cred secondary to the Pope. If the
master refuses to renounce the Pope,
his serfs and slaves must not I'M
der any consideration. Therefore,
any Roman Catholic. holding alleg-
lance to the Pope and, claimn z
at the same time to be an Americ n
@ tizen. is claiming that which he know 8
to be false. The very fact that Cath |
ism is doing its level best to destrt y
our public free school system is pro, +
positive that it is one of the worst enc
mics of the republic. Now, as Utah is
getting some special legislation, think
it would be in order to disfranchise the
Pope's Irish, or any other nationality
that will not forswear allegiance to the
Pope. In this way the country would
get out of its body polite all
the dynamiters and anarchists. prison.
builders and those that fill them. /
have no hesitation in saying that il
Ibis hghness," thesPope, took up his
quarters in Washington, the politicians.
including Edmunds and Tucker would
be able to Subsiot from the suction de-
rived from his paw.
If the Offices are to be filed in this
Territory, from the highest to the low
est, by appointment. what necessity
was there TOR an article on the register
ing of voters? Mr.. Tucker, in his
speech about God and Christ, fails to
tell US whether they were Mormon
Protestant God and Christ, or Roman
Catholic deities. 1t must De one or the
other, as we have no God in the Con-
stitutiOn. He says that one man should
have but one wife and not bundle.
Correct. What about the legions of
women confined in Catholic nunneries
that bid defiance TO our government to
inspect or investigate? Let us have an
honest investigation into every form of
religion that now appears 40 be under q
cloud, the members of which bodies are
making a pretense of supp-r ing this
government, when, in reality, they are
only seeking to undermine it. heard
a minister in this city say from the
rostrum that no matter if man was
paying 100 cents on Ae dollar. was a
good father, a good husband, a good
business lhan, respected by his
friends ard society at the same
time, and was doing his level
best to build up the country,
if he did not love his Master he would
find himself in perdition. This thing,
in my opinion, ought to be disfran-
chised as one OF the pests and drones in
this republic. The sooner such men
get their harps and crowns the better it
will be for good and industrious citi-
zens. If Congress has the power to
make laws for the disfranchisement of
one sect, d. nomination or creed, it has
the power to do the same
with others. and let rs help. as they
sing, my Home is in Heaven, My Home
is Not Here" to ease their burden of
temporal responsibilities. Disfran-
chisement is the order of the dav;
w w